With just days to go until Henley Women’s kicks off, the pinnacle of many crews’ season is nearly upon us. Racing side-by-side between the booms is what they have trained for all year and 2023 looks set to be another stellar event.
The Aspirational Academic Coxless Fours will race for the Cathy Cruickshank Trophy. Aspirational eligibility can sometimes be tricky to get one’s head around, so here’s a quick recap. No crew member can have done the following: won a medal at Junior or U23 Worlds; won a Championship or Aspirational event at Henley Women’s previously; won a BUCS Regatta Championship gold; raced in an open event at Henley Royal; been invited to Final Trials; or raced in Oxford or Cambridge’s blue boats.
The eligibility criteria tends to mean this event is hard to predict. Crews will often not have had much time together, racing a mixture of events at BUCS and only recently having finished university for the year.
Last year’s winners KSRV Njord will not be returning, so a new champion will be crowned this year. 18 boats are entered into the draw, with this to be narrowed to 16 after the time trial.
Oxford Brookes University BC
With Brookes’ programme heavily prioritising eights, this crew will be made up of athletes not yet at the top of their squad. All these athletes raced at BUCS in either the third or fourth eight, beating many other universities’ top boats.
At Met Regatta last weekend three out of four of the crew placed fifth in the Coxless Fours, which will be a big confidence boost despite not being their complete line up. Brookes can never be underestimated, regardless of the boat class, so it is highly likely we will see them in the latter rounds of this event.
Oxford University Women’s BC
Made up of athletes who did not make the blue boat for the Boat Race in March, Oxford will be targeting this event having just lost out last year in the final. Their crew raced at Met Regatta last Saturday, placing sixth in the B final. With more training and another few races under their belt at Reading Regatta, they will hope to step on and be more competitive with their nearest rivals.
Imperial College BC
Imperial have a strong history in this event, winning the Cathy Cruickshank trophy in 2021. The crew placed third in the B final at Met on Saturday and fourth in the A final on Sunday. Having improved race by race last weekend they will hope to do the same this week. Whether they can withstand the pace of some of the other crews will remain to be seen, however, this boat has spent more time together than some of their competitors, which can only be an advantage.
Newcastle University BC
Despite Newcastle not having the most stellar of years at BUCS, this crew will undoubtedly still be competitive. They may be targeting this event over some of the bigger boat classes and a win will be a big boost for the club. Three out of four of this crew placed sixth at Met Regatta on Saturday, and a different line up placed third in the B final on Sunday. With selection now finalised they will hope to find some consistency between now and the weekend, accompanied by a boost of speed.
Prediction
This event is hard to call with a lot of crews not yet having raced in their combinations. Based on the strength of their programmes and recent results we may see a Newcastle versus Brookes final. If this is the case, I expect Brookes to get the upper hand. This being said anything can happen between the booms and in an event as wide open as the Aspirational Academic Fours any crew could be in the mix on the final day.
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